That’s because I’m telling you a story, or a couple of stories, and that is how humans absorb information.
We don’t easily process stale statistical data or obscure legislation because the part of our brain that makes decisions -the heuristics area- processes information much more easily if the information is conveyed to it in the form of a story.
Stories are what we tell ourselves every day.
Since the time when humans were drawing paintings inside caves, we’ve been telling one another stories. It’s hardwired into our DNA.
Every day we tell stories to one another and -more importantly- to ourselves, about who we are, about what we believe, about our place in the world, about what others say about us.
The Gardai were completely sober when you were arrested.
They’ve already got a head-start on you here.
DRINK DRIVING IS A story too.
It’s a story about:
· What happened to you on the day or night or the evening or the morning that you were arrested, about where you were travelling to,
· Where you had come from, about how well you were driving,
· Being pulled over by the side of the road by the Gardaí,
· What the Guard said to you at the roadside.
· What you said to them,
· Being asked to blow into an apparatus,
· Being arrested, feeling shocked,
· The conversation you had with that Guard,
· The drive back to the Garda station,
· Being introduced to somebody called the Member-in-Charge,
· The strangeness of the place.
· Feeling a little scared,
· Being told something about being required to blow into a machine or that maybe a doctor was being called to attend the station,
· Being told that you must provide either a sample of blood or if you like, a specimen of your urine.
· Being told that a failure or refusal to provide the sample or specimen is a criminal offence and can lead to a possible jail sentence or fine or both, about being led to a place called the Doctor’s Room.
· The strangely antiseptic smell of the place,
· The conversation you had with the doctor,
· Rolling up your sleeve so that the doctor could take the sample of blood with a syringe or maybe being asked to provide a sample of urine into a plastic jug provided to you by the Guard.
· Watching the sample of blood or urine being placed into two separate glass vials, being packaged into a box that is sealed in your presence.
· Being led from the doctor’s room to the public office.
· Being handed your property back by the Member in Charge,
· Being released from custody.
THERE'S A LOT going on there. A lot of detail.
There’s a lot of detail needed from you too.
The Gardaí were completely sober when you were arrested.
They’ve already got a head-start on you here.
If you want to convince the Judge that your version of events is correct, you need to work hard on remembering every little detail of what happened when you were arrested.
That’s absolutely critical.
Otherwise, you go into court “sort of” remembering what happened.
“Sort of” remembering convinces nobody.
It’s a tough assignment but that's why it's so valuable.
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